How To Cut Lime Wedges For Mojito

Limes are the primary ingredient in the best Mojitos, but before you can find your Mojito mojo, you have to know how to cut lime wedges for Mojito mudding. You might think that since you’re going to muddle the limes with mint (smash them with a spoon or wooden pestle) it doesn’t really matter how you cut them. But au contraire! Part of the presentation of a Mojito is the appearance of mint leaves and lime in the glass. Not to mention, you want nice limes to garnish the finished drink.

Never fear! Cutting lime wedges is easier than drinking a Mojito. Here’s how to do it.

Wash the limes well and remove any produce stickers. Nothing’s nastier than finding things floating around in your Mojito.

Using a large, sharp knife, cut the lime from end to end. You should have two halves with the stem ends on either end. (Lime wedges cut this way give you something to hold onto when you squeeze them and you don’t get lime guts all over your fingers.)

If you aren’t going to use the whole lime in your Mojito and want to save a few wedges for garnish, here’s a cheater’s tip. With the tip of the knife, cut horizontal slits through the meat of the lime halves. In other words, slit the pulp from one side to the other, without cutting through the skin. This will give you the slit you need to “hang” the lime wedge on the rim of the glass.

Now, to cut your wedges, put the lime halves pulp-side down on a cutting board. Slice in half, end to end. This will give you four wedges. If you want thinner wedges, angle the knife and cut the lime half into thirds or quarters, depending on how thin you want your wedges to be.

Traditionally, bartenders cut limes into quarters for muddling, but these are your Mojitos. You can cut your limes any way you like, depending on how you want them to look in the glass.